A Criminal of Justice
by UnhappyHomicideExperience
Summary: Spoiler alert! Set after the final showdown with Near. What if Light didn't die but was put into jail instead. Here he must face struggles against L's legacy, the other criminals and himself. T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**A Criminal of Justice**

Light opened his eyes. A grey, damp-ridden wall greeted his vision. He blinked several times and sat up, groaning slightly. The bed was hard, everything ached and he couldn't remember how he got there. Rubbing his eyes slightly, he looked around curiously. The sight of stone walls and steel bars lay before him.

"W-what..." He stuttered, his eyes growing wider and his brow furrowing "I-it can't..."

"HEY BE QUIET IN THERE" a voice ordered from the direction of the only light source. Light turned towards it. There stood a door with a window-like section present, but metal bars obscuring what may have been outside. He stood and walked to the window. Outside showed a corridor with more doors. "So you're finally up, ey?"  
A guard blocked the view out of the window, and they came face to face. Light swallowed and looked around nervously, his eyes adjusting to the newfound darkness caused by the guards' obstruction.

"Where am I?" He asked, his voice trembling. He knew the answer. He knew most things; he was a genius after all. But there was something unsettling about his conclusion that he refused to believe. The old man laughed, leaving Light standing there unsure at what had triggered the outburst.

"You're under the old lock an' key" he chuckled slightly, one that lingered in the air for too long, causing goosebumps to form on Lights neck "that's what happn's to criminals."

It all came back to him. He finally understood.

He gulped: his throat bone dry.  
"B-but" he stammered, staggering backwards. His gaze falling to the ground with realisation. The guard frowned.  
"Hmm? Regretting anything?"  
His head darted up- making direct eye contact with the guard again. His brow furrowed.  
"Don't mock me: don't you know who I am? I am not a criminal. I am ju-"  
"QUIET YOU BAG OF DIRT." Light visibly deflated. "Know your place or your execution will be rescheduled to today."  
The young man's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. _Execution_ he thought _my execution..._ Afraid to make another sound, he closed his mouth and retreated back to his ancient bed.  
"Thought so." The guard sniggered before also retreating from the small window.

The eerie silence that engulfed the cell enhanced the thoughts that ran through Lights mind. Conflicts on what he'd done wrong and how he could escape continuously strung through his head, crowding his sense of logic with frustration. There was little opportunity to escape from his position: alone, in the dark, with a guard for company. Anger clouded his vision. He brought his head to his hands, demanding the useless voice in his head to go away. But no such peace came.

His only hope was sleep.

* * *

"No. 23985." a voice drifted into his mind "... Mr Light Yagami?"  
Lights eyes fluttered open. The room was lighter. _So they do have lights in the rooms?_ He chuckled slightly. Remembering the voice and where he was, Light turned over in his bed to see the cell door opened slightly, a person standing in the opening. He sat up slightly to get a better view. Lights brows furrowed and he looked upon the visitor with confusion. Sensing this, the man continued.  
"If you could follow me, I'd like to discuss something with you." Light remained cautious. _If he wanted a chat, why not have it in here, it's not like there's anyone else here._ He thought, not wanting to voice his opinion on the grounds of staying out of trouble. Reluctantly, he got up, his body aching once again. The guard from earlier opened the door wider, entering the cell whilst brandishing a set of handcuffs.

Light's face paled. _Handcuffs..._

Quickly, he turned around, allowing the officer to restrain his hands, before turning back around. The man at the door gestured for him to follow and stepped aside to allow space for his exit. Light walked out of the cell. The corridor resembled his current room: it was plain, angular and obviously not cared for.  
Without saying a word, the man walked down the corridor, away from his cell. Light followed. He seemed to be wearing a white lab coat and appeared to be in his mid-50's, his age showing through the various wrinkles gracing his features. The man obviously meant business due to the ink staining his right hand. But this could also suggest his lack of experience in hand to hand combat due to the amount of paperwork he had to fill in. Smirking, Light weighed his options as he followed desk guy through the building. He clenched his fists, moving his hands around as to feel the extent to which he was restrained. The answer: not a lot. Taking a breath to brace himself for a quick attack, Light stumbled to a halt as desk guy suddenly stopped ahead of him. He unclenched his fists. Desk guy turned to face him, sighing slightly  
"We're here," he gestured to a door and unlocked it with a card, causing it to open widely "after you". Light nodded and passed desk guy whilst entering the room.  
"Don't try anything funny..." He heard him whisper. Lights eyes widened  
 _Damn_ it had been so long since he'd had to read someone. _I'm out of practise._

The room he entered was slightly more up kept than the rest of the building he had experienced. Up kept meaning: there wasn't any mould. In fact, there was even a frosted window to the outside... Which was obstructed by those same annoying metal bars. The room mainly held a desk of sorts with a couple of chairs, filing cabinets and a Sakura branch in a plant pot in the corner. Desk guy closed the door with a click and nodded towards the chair closest to Light  
"Take a seat." He said, the remnants of a smile on his lips. Light reluctantly obeyed whilst the other guy walked around the desk and sat there instead. They sat there for a couple of seconds, not saying anything as Light studied desk guy, who studied the files in front of him. He looked up from the paper, his face devoid of expression yet somehow still warming.  
"I'm Doctor Yurushi. And you're Light Yagami I believe?" Light nodded slowly "I know what you've been through, what you've done and why you're here. Of course you know too. My job however is to help you prepare for your final day, which L said he wanted you to redeem yourself a bit-"  
"L?" Light interrupted in disbelief. _It can't be. L's dead. I'm the one who killed him!_ Yurushi exhaled deeply and continued  
"Yes, L." He leaned back slightly in his chair "In fact, although I was against it, he's made an appointment to speak to you tomorrow. If you're good that is,"

Light continued to stare at him, shock consuming his being. _Stop believing him you idiot._ He thought _Of course it couldn't be L. This is probably just a test or something...  
_ Feeling a sharp stab of pain under his handcuffs, Light winced, breaking his gaze on the doctor.  
"Back onto topic then," the doctor proceeded, leaning forward and clasping his hands together "how are you feeling today, Light?"  
The criminal looked up again, confused by the man's words. Tired of holding his tongue, he proceeded.  
"Why would you care; you're going to kill me anyway."  
The doctor raised his eyebrows  
"That's a bit harsh now isn't it? It's my job and personal interest to know of your wellbeing, especially if there's anyway I can help you." Light let out a laugh.  
"Help me? You could say that again..." He snapped "if your intentions were to help me then you should never have brought me here in the first place."  
"Now Light," he began, his tone getting serious "if I wanted to argue with you, I would have chosen a more interesting topic. I'm here to support you. But, if you don't want that help then I suggest that you should be escorted back to your cell. "  
He got out of his chair and walked towards the door.  
"If you would fo-"  
"Wait..." Light hesitated, visibly showing signs of him mentally punishing himself. The ageing man stopped and turned to face Light, his eyebrows raised in curiosity "my, uh... my hands hurt."  
Yurushi smiled, taking a step towards him.  
"Oh... Is that so?"

* * *

Light walked down the corridor back to his cell, his gaze at the floor. A security officer walked ahead and behind him. He assumed that earlier, the lack of security was present to provide him with a false sense of security, one that would encourage him to talk. Weirdly, it may have worked.  
After complaining about his hands, Light hadn't said another word, ashamed at his weak tongue. Obviously Dr. Yurushi sensed this and stopped asking questions.

Light stepped inside his cell. The guard released his hands from the handcuffs and locked his door. Once again he was all alone. He looked down at the hands that had caused him so much trouble. Bandages lay intertwined across his tender skin. Bandages given to him by that sick man...  
He wasn't lying when he said they hurt. In fact, his whole body hurt, but his hands were the one thing that came to mind first. _That damn Matsuda. Why couldn't he have used his head for once and maybe I wouldn't be in this situation. Instead I'd still have his dignity, power and pride. The correct ideals would still be put into place and justice would be dealt. God. I was god. And now what..._

Light clenched his fists, his breath quickening with the frustration of losing everything. He looked around quickly, the new light revealing what could be another chance. He had to escape. He had to become god once again.

But there was nothing there. There was about as much chance of escape from that cell as there was with Misa saying something intelligent. Yes, when they next released him from his cell, that's when he would make a run for it. His devout followers would just have to wait for him until then.

 **-a/n-**

 **So I don't know what possessed me to write this, I guess I'm just in too deep.  
** **There will be plenty of chapters to come, don't worry ;) and I have no idea where the plot's going to go, but I guess that's part of the fun**


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day and night dragged. There was nothing to do and no one to talk to. The same blank four walls greeted him each time he awoke after accidentally falling asleep. The only variation to the day was the lights suddenly turning off: the only indication of what time of day it could be.

When the lights next turned on, Light was already awake. His stomach was growling and he realised he hadn't eaten. The damn jail said they wanted to help him but they cou-  
"23985." Light's head snapped up. The door had opened, revealing the guard, handcuffs in hand. "Get up."  
Light stood, stretching his back then wincing. He'd forgotten how much everything ached. The guard approached him, chaining his hands in front of him this time. He then cuffed his ankles together. Light winced, _this is new._ He then walked out of the cell, leaving Light to follow. He shuffled down the corridor, the cuffs making movement difficult and causing him to stumble a couple of times. Another guard followed from behind when they started making their way down the corridor, resting a hand on Light's shoulder which reminded him of his presence.

"Ah, there you are," Dr Yurushi joined them enroute "Listen, I thought this'd be for the best so be good okay?" He disappeared into a room, leaving Light very confused as he followed the guards. He looked around to see where they were going but a baton nudged with his face, forcing him to keep his eyes forward. They approached a door. The first guard glanced at Light and then the other escort, before opening it with the click of a security card.

Lights eyes widened. Inside lay table upon table, some of which had people sat around it... eating.

That's when Light fully realized what he was wearing. The other inmates donned blue, orange and yellow jumpsuits. The mass murderer looked down at his own jumpsuit and saw brown. _Brown. The hell does this mean?!_

"Hey, do you-" he started to inquire, then looked up, only to notice that the guard wasn't paying attention to him and was instead at a serving station. This consisted of a metal gauze with a hole only big enough for the exchange of plastic trays holding his much awaited food. The escort picked up a tray and walked to the nearest table, dumping the tray down and stared at Light. Light met his eyes and walked towards him, sitting at the table with the not-quite-food in front of him.

Light picked up the chopsticks from the tray, holding both hands next to each other due to his restricted mobility from the handcuffs. On his tray sat the remnants of regurgitated pasta, made and eaten by a five-year-old. Grimacing, he took a bite of the 'food' and let its sour presence contaminate his mouth. Yes, it was abnormal. Yes, it made him shudder slightly. But it was edible, and he was hungry. Not wanting to concentrate on the pile of vomit on his tray, Light looked up, away from the food.

That's when he noticed it: the many pairs of eyes that followed his every move.

Freezing slightly, Light stared ahead, startled by the sudden attention. Lowering his gaze, he went back to eating his food, heat rising to his face from the unwanted attention. Although he tried to mask his actions, his movements were slightly jerky and rigid with the knowledge of the attention on him.  
"Hey you." A voice interrupted his thoughts "I haven't seen you around here before. You new?"  
Light glanced up in-between bites. A young man stood on the opposite side to the table. Thinking better than to ignore him, Light stared as his food again, intimidated by the inmates piercing stare.

"Looks like it" he said, chewing on some green stick-shaped thing. That's when he fully comprehended the silence that engulf the entire hall. The young man leaned on the table, looking intently at the unfamiliar face of the new inmate.  
"You've got some guts to be locked up when Kira's around..." Light slowed and looked up again. Of course, everyone knew about Kira. But there was no way of telling he was Kira… right? Well, maybe L and Near figured it out, but surely no one else... right? Not wanting to look startled and to avoid suspicions, he lowered his gaze to stare at the table, and put his chopsticks down. He was going for the _oh shit, you're right: I'm going to die_ mask. The criminal sat down opposite him.  
"So, what's your name?" He asked. Light mentally frowned, keeping his placid mask firmly in place. _Should I give him an alias?_ He thought _... no. That would only raise suspicions if they found out. I doubt they've got access to the news, so I don't think they'll work out that my arrest is classified. Also if they spread my name as a criminal, Kira won't kill me._

"Light Yagami." He answered. He looked up to make eye contact with the blonde man. He didn't recognize him, meaning that he'd either appeared in the news since his own arrest, or he was letting Mikami do more of Kira's job than he realized. "What's yours?"  
The blonde smiled and extended a hand towards him.  
"Yuto Gohara, it's a pleasure" his voice brimmed with sarcasm. Light internally cringed _I cant bloody shake your hand can I?! Fucking get me out of these handcuffs if you want to actually do something helpful for once._ The inmates gaze transferred beyond Lights face, where his smile and hand dropped. Light looked at him, confused. _Did I say that out loud?_  
Suddenly a hand clasped Light's shoulder causing him to wince.  
"C'mon, let's go." He stole a glace behind himself to see one of the guards looking down at him. Sighing, Light got up and make eye contact with Yuto before following the guard out of the cafeteria door.

* * *

Dr Yurushi's office had a strange smell to it.

It bugged Raito. He could see the air freshener placed slap-hazardly upon the doctor's barren desk and it annoyed him. The scent, although fresh, was so artificial it tugged at his lips, threatening him to cringe in its presence. Maybe that was the doctor's intentions, to force his patients to complain, thus starting a conversation. No, that's too planned, too clever… he was probably just self-conscious of the stench that radiated from his dead cube. It was so lifeless; he wouldn't be surprised if something was rotting away in there.

"So, how did it go?" The doctor asked, smiling slightly at the mass murderer.  
"It went how any lunch should go." Light answered. A moment passed between them. Light continued to stare ahead, emotion devoid on his features. The doctor probably expected him to elaborate a bit, or describe the many thoughts and feelings that graced his mind as he numbly chewed on processed junk. Dr Yurushi contemplated his position then stood.

"Say Light," he said, causing Light to watch his every move "if you'd care to follow me."  
Light paled "I'm not going back there am I?" The doctor hesitated.  
"Well, yes." The criminal's eyes widened slightly, before his gaze lowered again, his face growing dark. He stood, following Yurushi out of his office and towards the cell. He unlocked his handcuffs and closed the door, leaving Light alone in the cell again.

* * *

"Yagami Raito" The jumbled voice made him shiver, made his breath hitch. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was the voice of the one who should be dead. Light turned around, startled, but no one was there.

 _Maybe I'm going crazy; maybe it's just in my head._ Then he noticed it, the camera in the corner of the ceiling. _How long has that been there?_ He rolled his eyes slightly at the invasion of his privacy. _I guess it's protocol._  
"I trust that Dr Yurushi notified you of my visit?" The voice continued, penetrating the silence that blanketed the room. Light lowered his gaze and slumped to the ground, ignoring the detective. _It's not a visit though, is it?_ He brought his hands to his wrists, tracing where the handcuffs had once been. The bandages still lay on them and his hands, covering his wounds. The handcuffs had irritated the delicate skin under them.

"Raito, I know you can hear me." The voice persisted.

Light gave a frustrated sigh and his arms fell to his sides. His head snapped up; glaring at the camera. "Honestly, there's no need for that attitude, but I guess it's justified considering the circumstances."

Light grimaced, willing the voice to piss off and leave him alone.

"Light. How are you settling in?" Light suppressed a groan, seriously not in the mood for small talk with people who he was meant to have killed. This definitely wasn't L. L would have gotten straight to the point. Or at least made successful small talk- successful at making him either humiliated or frustrated. This was neither. This was void of any emotion, so Light replicated that in his response; a response void of anything at all.

"Hmm…" The voice continued "Not very talkative today are we?" The machine although monotonous, sounded mildly annoyed.  
"Never mind," Light felt a smile threaten his flawless blank expression. Whoever it was, they deserved it. He was winning. "Just thought I'd let you know I'm burning the notebooks." Kira's eyes widened, his mouth falling apart slightly. His façade had broken, but it didn't matter.

"You _what?!_ " He spat out, clenching his fists.

"Oh, so you _can_ talk…" The voice stated. Light growled, wanting to scream, to thrash, to show the camera pure hell, but he had a reputation to keep up and he didn't want to allow them to see the pain caused by this threat. "You won't be needing the notebook anymore, and neither will I. Some say you're smart, so I guess you've already considered this outcome."

Kira settled with a more restrained non-physical approach of retaliation.  
"Fuck you"

"…Well Light," The voice continued. "I thank you for your time; although it may seem as though you haven't got much left." Light growled, that was crossing a line.

"I'll notify you of my next visit when the time comes, until then," And just like that Light was left with silence once again.

 **-a/n-**

 **Well, sorry for the wait :s but I've officially finished my end of year exams, so I'll be free for a while (*celebrates*) I bet my teachers thought I'd be doing something productive with this extended time off... yeah right xD  
Anyway, I have a feeling of what I want in the next chapter, so that should be underway soon. And if I don't get distracted by art, it should be up next week some time c:**

 **In other news I have (and have had for a while) a Death Note Spotify playlist, and the song which I think illustrates this pretty nicely is 'Piano Wire Number 12' by SHONE. It has character, I recommend it ;)  
** **As for the playlist, since FF hates links, just search 'Death Note' or 'Mutated-Mushroom' (that's my username) if you want to listen to it**


	3. Chapter 3

_Scratch… scratch…  
_ The soft noise resonated throughout the cell's confines. The cell's occupant lay on his bunk, facing the blank wall, creating indents on its surface. Light gazed upon his handiwork with uncaring, blank eyes. Ever since the announcement regarding the notebooks, Light had curled up on himself, limiting the camera to a view of his back. His movements had been minimal, if at all, with the only revelation in recent actions being the idle scratching at the wall.

He stopped abruptly. The room was engulfed into silence once again.

The cell door opened roughly. A guard took a couple of steps in, turning to face the 'sleeping' prisoner.  
"23985, get up." Light sighed quietly before pulling himself up, blankly staring at the wall ahead of him. The guard took his hands and cuffed them, then swiftly bent down to cuff his ankles. He continued to look ahead as the guards pulled him out of his cell and dragged him along the corridor.

* * *

He mindlessly picked at his plate of 'tuna' ramen, stuffing messy bundles of it into his mouth. He didn't particularly feel like eating, but his stomach said otherwise. So he continued to fill his stomach with it. Other inmates were chewing on their own bowls of the food, with only a few of them pausing to take quick glances at the handcuffed inmate. A certain blonde criminal meandered over to Light's empty table and sat down opposite him, a bread roll in his hand. Light glanced at him briefly between bites, showing no change in his actions. _Oh fuck me, it's that guy again._ Light thought, blindly staring at the cafeteria table, hoping to avoid eye contact.  
"Hey Light." Yuto said, taking a bite from the roll. Bread crumbs fell to the table. _Where'd he get that?_ He thought, eyeing the roll. _That's not fair… I want a roll *mental pout*._ "You can come sit at our table if you want…" he continued, gesturing to three tables behind himself with a motion of his eyes. There several inmates sat around it, sneaking glances at the mass murderer, obviously interested as to the answer to the inquiry. Light internally sighed. He didn't want to particularly want to talk to criminals, never mind spend time in their company.

Light stopped eating, putting his chopsticks down. Yuto's eyebrows lifted, surprised by how simple it was to get the new inmates acceptance. However, they then turned into a scowl when Light reached for his drink instead of moving to get up. He took a sip, moistening his chapped lips and washing the remnants of the ramen down his throat.  
"I can't." He said studying Yuto's enquiring expression from the edges of the cup as it was held to his mouth. Not really having a reason, he nodded over to the guards standing behind him. Yuto looked up at them before settling his eyes on Light again.

"Well some of the guys were…" _blah, blah, blah… This guy sure is persistent._ He rolled his eyes briefly before taking another sip of his water. "… bored….break …basketball-"  
"What?" Light questioned, his interest peaked exponentially. Yuto looked at him with confusion, his lips slightly parted with his next words evaporating from them.

"Um… basketball?" He replied hesitantly. Lights unswerving attention encouraged him to continue. "Well, the guards usually give us an hour a week to play some basketball, and I just thought you might want to join- seeing as no one ever sees you anywhere besides the cafeteria."

Light's head whipped round to address the guards behind him. They look at one another before turning back to Light, uncertainty laced within their faces.

* * *

Step step under the leg bounce pass bounce turn step step bounce jump shoot score. Light watched with analysing eyes. Every move, every trick, every turn was recorded and studied- broken into a series of achievable frames that could be repeated flawlessly. He had never played basketball before, but had a feeling that he could match the criminals' pace easily. And perhaps beat them in their own game. But there was a slight problem.

Allowing Raito to even observe this game of criminal against criminal was apparently stretching his rights. Because of this, actually partaking in it was out of bounds. The perks of being under 'strict' confinement.

Light stood, his back resting against the wall of the building, watching the events of the match unfold. His personal guards stood several meters away, studying his behaviour. And as they thought that the mental torture of being withdrawn from the game wasn't substantial enough, they had kept his handcuffs on, which limited his movement even further.

However, it wasn't all that bad, as the small basketball game kept his mind occupied and being outside was certainly a nice change. The soft breeze was refreshing and threaded its way through his messed hair. Raito closed his eyes briefly, content with the knowledge of the game, and let his mind wander to a life without the confines of jail. A life where Kira was law.

A voice broke his reverie. He opened his eyes. The teams had switched, meaning that one had either won or the other was just 'bored' and had to pull out. Light turned to see Yuto and one other _I think his name was Shuji_ walking towards him, panting slightly and sweat clinging to their features from exercise. Yuto slumped against the wall and slowly slid to the ground. He grumbled slightly to himself.  
"Bloody basketball" he exhaled, draping a limp arm across his forehead "Every time, I swear. I've got to be their target or something because it's only me that ends up falling over!" his arm slumped to his side, joining the rest of his body "I thought we were playing sport not some magician's mind-fuck." Raito concluded that his team lost.

Shuji gave a snort which ripped through his muscular, tattooed body.  
"If you hate it so much, maybe you should join Raito. He looks like he could do with some company."

Yuto eyed Light, who had donned a placid expression "Actually, that's a good point," He pondered, raising himself from the concrete floor to match his height "Say, Light…"

He raised an eyebrow "Hm?"

"What's the deal with the extra security and restraints? Everyone's been wondering, so…"

"What do you mean? It's a jail isn't it?" Light hated asking questions, but some sacrifices had to be made if he wanted to keep the cat in the bag. He didn't particular want to be jumped on by all the criminals in the immediate area.

"Well obviously, but I don't get it. None of us have personal body guards or whatever. Hey you someone important, like son of a prince or something?" Light let out a small laugh

"As if. Well… it's kind of a long story" he hesitated, double taking on his decision before it was set in stone. He glanced over to the guards, who were regarding him sternly. Yuto gave a laugh.

"Good job we're sticking around here for a while then. Eh, Shuji?" he said, morbidly laughing. Light grimaced, he didn't know how long he had left. It could be one day or one year. A ticking time bomb. "So…?" Yuto prodded, focusing back on the subject. Light cleared his mind, meeting his eyes, a faint smile on his lips.  
"I killed a man."

Silence.  
The bouncing of the basketball stopped.  
Light regarded his surroundings, all eyes were on him. He raised an eyebrow, challenging the onlookers. They quickly busied themselves under the gaze of the dangerous inmate.

"Well shit." Yuto breathed, regaining Light's attention. "Are you fucking with me? I mean you just look so…"  
"Harmless" Shuji supplied. Yuto nodded.  
"Yeah that. I hadn't taken you for the murderer sort. I mean I'm just a thief." Light smirked.

"So I'm a murderer?" Light contemplated. The bystander's expressions turned serious with the subject. "Murderer's a weird word, don't you think?... It emphasizes the 'er' within the act, as though the perpetrator actually hesitated. As though they actually considered the wrong doings of their actions and maybe even thought about not carrying out their plan. I didn't." This captured the attention of the guards, who shifted slightly and rehandled their batons, preparing to charge him if they had to.

 _I knew I was doing the right thing; it was justice. You don't need to question justice because it is simply that: justice! And yet that L still thought I did wrong and stuck me in here, labelled as murderer. L did wrong going against justice. Yes it was all L._

Light sighed "I wonder when they'll let me play basketball"

 **-a/n-**

 **This was going to be longer, but I think it's going to go over into two chapters so...  
Thanks for the reviews guys ^^ They really help, and give me feedback on the sorts of stuff I should include later so thanks again and keep them coming :3**

 **Another song which I really cant get out my head, and I think describes Light pretty well, is 'Lie' by 'Black Light Burns'. It's a good one that c:**


End file.
